Lots of nice things to look at. And I'm not even talking about Shannon and me.

Shannon's taking intro to art at MSJC, so we went to the San Diego Museum of Art to fulfill her field trip requirement.



I was more than happy to be her bus driver/chaperone.



She had to do a write-up of what we saw, so we listened to a docent's presentation of "Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber" by Juan Sanchez Cotan to a group of kids.



Apparently, it's the second most notable piece in the museum, after a portrait by Giorgione, which we also spent some time with. Cotan's still life was hundreds of years ahead of its time; vegetables were a weird subject for a monk who was supposed to be painting crucifixions and madonnas. The angles of the shadows, the mathematical curve of the arrangement, the location of the depiction, just the purpose and meaning of the composition, are all mysteries.



The museum had a room that encouraged visitors to relax and create some art of their own. The soft orb seats were spectacular.



A famous self-portrait hung on the wall next to an exhortation for us to sketch ones of our own with the cute little mirror.



Here's my brilliant effort. It took me back to my late childhood-early adolescence, when I used to draw self-portraits constantly. I'm pretty sure there are periods of my life from which more drawings than photographs of myself exist. That I wasn't much to take a picture of probably has a lot to do with that. Drawings are a lot more flattering, especially when you do them yourself.



While Shannon drew, I took self-timed pictures of myself. There are a lot more of these; be glad few of them turned out.



Shannon's museum contribution.



We toured every gallery and "just had the best time," as my high school art history teacher used to say.



Since we still had some before we'd have to head up to Escondido to pick Mom up, we went next door to the botanical garden.



Shannon looked at this flower and said, "It looks like a flamingo!" I pointed to the sign and said, "That must be why it's called a flamingo flower." She took this picture (she likes to be credited with her photographic efforts; she took the masthead photo for the Driftwood site, though I didn't credit her with it).



There are a lot of these, too. I tried to pick out the cutest ones.



Aww, so pretty.



Really, there's nothing better than a warm late-spring day in San Diego and a trip to the art museum with a sister.